Strikeforce: Damm’s Tourney Slot in Jeopardy

Carina
Damm’s future in Strikeforce’s four-women 135-pound tournament
is in jeopardy due to difficulties securing her work visa, the
promotion confirmed with Sherdog.com on Wednesday evening. The
one-night tournament takes place at Strikeforce Challengers 10 on
Aug. 13 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said Damm’s visa request was delayed
due to an overflow at the Rio De Janeiro office handling it and
that the promotion is exhausting all efforts to get her an
appointment to push the paperwork through.

Damm has won 10 straight bouts since February 2007. The Alliance
Jiu-jitsu rep earned a first-round TKO over Aline Serio
at Jungle Fight 17 last February in her hometown of Vila Velha,
Brazil.

In an email sent out Wednesday evening by Strikeforce’s Mike
Afromowitz, the promotion etched out an alternate plan.

“In the event that (Damm) is unable to acquire a visa, however, we
have identified a qualified replacement for the tournament and will
release her name if Carina is officially forced to withdraw from
the event,” wrote Afromowitz. “This prospective replacement has
been in training camp for several weeks and is prepared to take on
the task at hand.”

Coker told Sherdog.com that the potential replacement has not been
pulled from the reserve match, which is yet to be announced. The
reserve match will provide a same-night replacement should one of
the two finalists be unable to compete beyond their first bout.